Educators

The History of Vaccines offers standards-based resources for use in biology and health courses. The content is targeted to high school students but can be adapted for use in middle schools and college settings.

Online Activities

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  How Vaccines Work

  In this simulation, students learn about the human immune system’s response to vaccination. After viewing the simulation, they demonstrate what they learned by sequencing and labeling the steps in the process.

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  Illsville: Fight the Disease

  Games can teach valuable lessons, and in this exciting game students race to protect the population from Illsville from disease while attempting to gain the medical knowledge necessary to develop vaccines. Students learn about history, disease, and public health while progressing from the Age of Disease to the Age of Vaccines.

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  The Scientific Method

  This activity immerses students in a disease outbreak. They apply the scientific method in an epidemiological setting to pinpoint the source of the illness.

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  Timelines

  Multimedia timelines on disease and vaccines, immunization pioneers, scientific breakthroughs, and social issues show the sweeping history of vaccination.

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  Articles

  Students can explore articles on a variety of scientific and historical topics related to immunization.

Lesson Plans

Lesson plans help teachers use the History of Vaccines in the classroom and teach specific standards-based topics: the scientific method, the immune system and how vaccines interact with it, and viral evolution. The first lesson plan below provides a broad overview of using the website in one or two class periods. The other lesson plans offer in-depth explorations of particular topics and website areas.

• Lesson Plan: Using the History of Vaccines in the Classroom (PDF)
• Lesson Plan: Viruses and Evolution (PDF)
• Lesson Plan: The Scientific Method in Vaccine History (PDF)
  
• Lesson Plan: How Vaccines Work (PDF)
  

History of Vaccines Standards Correlation

The following national science, health, and technology standards apply to History of Vaccines learning resources.

History of Vaccines Correlating Standards